


In Which Lloyd Plays Ninjas

by the_jade_princess



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Fluff, Food mention, tjp writes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:07:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27474028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_jade_princess/pseuds/the_jade_princess
Summary: A self-indulgent fic with an OC appearance. Lloyd's supposed to buy Sensei's tea, but instead gets sidetracked by an eager group of kids.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	In Which Lloyd Plays Ninjas

It was supposed to be his off day, Lloyd silently grumbled. Children’s screams totally ruined the calming, sunny vibe of the afternoon, and currently, Lloyd was weaponless, gi-less, and team-less.

He prayed for a minor villain he could defeat with a couple bright flashes of elemental energy. Of course, he knew the Cloud Kingdom Monks probably took bets on "how much trauma can we pack on little Lloyd Garmadon?".

He rounded the corner, fists curled in preparation for a knuckle sandwich, a-

"Jimmy! I want to be the Fire ninja," a little girl complained. "But then who's the Water ninja?" the kid, who must've been Jimmy, retorted. "I'll be the Water ninja!" another kid answered. "We need you as the villain, Jo. Today's your day."

Jo huffed. "Look! Maybe he'll play!" the first little girl announced, pointing to a very confused Lloyd, who carefully lowered his arms and glanced around the gang of three. "Who screamed?" he asked.

"That was me," Jimmy said. "I fell off the crate. Will you play with us?"

Lloyd remembered Sensei's very stern lecture ("get my tea and come back for evening exercise, or you'll be cleaning all the weapons in the monastery on your own") and shrugged. "Sure."

"Yay!" the kids cheered.

"I'm Jimmy. And they're Jo and Aubrey." He pointed to each of his friends in turn. "Nelson got a job as a paperboy and Blake and Jade have homework, so we're playing Ninjas until they come back," Aubrey explained. "What's your name?"

"I'm-" Lloyd stopped. They didn't recognize him. Maybe the Monks were really giving him a break after all. "I'm Sam," he decided. "Hello, Sam!" the children chorused as he sat down.

"How do you play Ninjas?"

"Everyone gets to choose a ninja they want to be, except for whoever is supposed to be the villain," Jo explained patiently. "I'm the villain today." "I'm the Water ninja, but I want to be Fire," Aubrey said. "Jimmy's Fire."

"Why don't you switch?" "I don't want to be the Water ninja." Lloyd frowned. "Why don't you be another ninja?" "That messes up the game," Jo said.

"Fine, I'll be Water, but only if Sam is captured instead," Aubrey bargained. "Fine by me," Lloyd said. The Monks decided to be funny, huh. "Who am I, then?"

The kids formed a circle and started whispering. "Actually, you can help Jo be the villain," Jimmy announced. "I'm Multiplier," Jo explained. "I multiply stuff. You can be my assistant: Aurum."

And thus, the game began. "Not so fast!" Jimmy announced, hopping into Multiplier's lair (aka a circle of crates Lloyd barely fit into). Aubrey jumped next to him, wielding a water bottle.

"That's the best catchphrase you have?" asked "Aurum" in a shoddy British accent. ("Please don't," Aubrey said. "Please do." Jimmy and Jo giggled, and Lloyd grinned a dragon-y smile.)

"We've stopped you before!" Aubrey announced bravely. "My powers are stronger now!" "Multiplier" claimed, wiggling their fingers as a demonstration.

"Yeah, right," Jimmy said with Kai's signature cockiness. He threw a red scarf at Jo, and Jo _literally multiplied a box_. ("No powers," Jimmy and Aubrey complained, and Jo smiled sheepishly. "It's in the name!” To Lloyd, they confessed having the element of duplication while Jimmy grabbed the scarf again and Aubrey pushed the crate away.)

Jimmy re-tossed the scarf and Jo moved a crate in front. Aubrey tossed water from the water bottle at the two villains, and Aurum jumped back.

“Aurum, catch!” Multiplier called, tossing over a bamboo stick. “Not the Mega-weapon!” Aubrey and Jimmy shrieked dramatically. “Mwhahaha!” Aurum cackled, tossing the scarf at Aubrey. Aubrey jumped aside and Jimmy threw the scarf at Aurum.

“Hey, I told you kids to scram.” An angry man thundered down the alley and restacked the crates. The children, including Lloyd, apologized.

“Who was that?” Lloyd asked. “That’s just Mr. Murray,” Jimmy said nonchalantly. “His alley is the cleanest, but he’s really mean.” “Why don’t you play in the park?” Lloyd gestured across the street.

“The other kids try joining in, but they don’t play nice,” Aubrey explained.

“Ever go to Doomsday Comix?” “Sometimes!” Jo said excitedly. “But reading isn’t always as fun as playing.”

Lloyd slowly realized that he had experienced the same predicaments during his childhood. The city hadn’t changed that much in terms of safe playspaces, and he hadn’t done anything about it as the Green Ninja.

“Tell you what, I’ll buy you some candy, and then I’ll talk to my friend. She might have an idea for you." The kids chattered excitedly and started racing each other to the nearest candy store. "Wait up!" Lloyd called happily, running after them.

He pretended to be super slow, and dramatically flopped onto the sidewalk when he "caught up" with the giggling group. A few adults shook their heads and purposefully avoided him, while muttering unkind words about "strange teenagers".

Lloyd stood and opened the door. "Hello!" the shopkeeper called. "You look fam-" "I'm Sam," Lloyd said quickly, winking. She winked back as the children called out the locations of their favorite sweets to "Sam". "Better go stop them from buying the whole shop."

He quickly shuffled over to them as they triumphantly held up their finds for inspection.

Two bags of gummy worms, three lollipops, and some KitKats later, Lloyd lead the group to Chen's Noodle House.

High on sugar, the children talked about their school experiences (Miss Koko was allegedly the "best teacher ever"), the latest 4th grade drama (it turned out Brad Todabone had become a local 6th grade celebrity, known for his pranks and gardening knowledge), and what Jo should get their little sister for her birthday (in which Lloyd discovered that unicorns had gone out of fashion, and barrels of slime were now popular much to parents' dismay).

"Hello and welcome to- who did Kai adopt now?"

"Everything's okay, Skylor. These are my friends: Jimmy, Aubrey, and Jo. And I'm Sam." Skylor shook her head, remember the last time Lloyd had gone around the city as "Sam Vincent". The citywide Nerf Gun in Target ban was still in effect, thanks to the shenanigans of Mr. Adamthwaite and Mr. Vincent.

"So, what's going on?" She led the group to a clean table and watched as a small argument over whether Percy Jackson was taller or shorter than Annabeth erupt.

"They need a playspace. Their old alley belonged to some mean guy, and they don't really have anywhere else to go." "They're welcome to my alley, though the employees use it to get to the kitchen." She inspected the group carefully.

"I suppose it wouldn't be much of a problem, if they're in school most of the day."

 _"I'm here live as Samurai X defeats the Mechanic for the 5th time this month, near a Chen's Noodle House."_ The kids cheered at the TV and raced to the window.

"Thanks. They really appreciate it." Skylor smiled at Lloyd and ruffled his hair. "Well, how can I say no to one of my favorite customers?" "Hey kids, Sky's letting you play in her alley!" Lloyd called to the antsy group. They cheered again and ran over to hug the flustered Amber Ninja.

As Skylor announced a few rules, Lloyd grabbed a clean napkin and a pen. He scribbled a quick message, then silently left.

\---------------------

"Where's Sam?" Jo asked a few minutes later. "There's a note," Aubrey said. "But I can't really read it." Skylor gingerly took it from the girl and squinted at the horrifying scrawl.

"Thanks for letting me play Ninjas. I have to go to evening exercise now. Signed, Lloyd, the green ninja."

"Wait, was Sam actually Lloyd?" Jimmy asked. Skylor nodded, and the kids' eyes grew wide. "That explains why he was a terrible villain," Aubrey said. "Yeah. The laugh was good though," Jo said.

And they raced off to play another round of Ninjas.


End file.
